The Pain, the Comfort
by Alexsangirl
Summary: Kengo gets in a fight with a bunch of thugs to prove to himself that he’s not useless to Akira. He fails miserably. But what seems like failure can turn into a victory in the end. AkiraxKengo, shonen-ai
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **The Pain, the Comfort

**Rating: **PG 13 for swearing and shonen-ai! (which will be more expressed in chapter two)

**Summary: **Kengo gets in a fight with a bunch of thugs to prove to himself that he's not useless to Akira. He fails miserably. But what seems like failure can turn into a victory in the end.

**Pairing:**___Akira/Kengo _some slight mentions of _Shirogane/Akira_

**Disclaimer: **I DO NOT OWN MONOCHROME FACTOR. If I did Kengo would be in it sooo much more and Akira wouldn't be so much of a douche-bag to him. That's why I make him semi-nice here. Don't want to go too OOC, though. -sigh-

**Note: **I only have the first two manga volumes, getting the third soon. I also only saw a few episodes of the anime. If it isn't completely accurate to the story, OH WELL. It's a fanfic. Deal with it. I tried my best.

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**The Pain, the Comfort.**

It hurt. A lot. Kengo would never have thought that after being smacked around by Akira hadn't made him numb to the pain he was in right now. Perhaps laying on one's back after taking a beating wasn't a smart thought either. Not that Kengo was able to fix that. The pain was enough to keep him from moving. Even breathing hurt and it was getting considerably harder to do that too. The blonde coughed, which caused him to choke the blood that had clogged up his throat. He had only sucked it back in once he tried to breathe in air in desperation.

_'I guess this is it,' _Kengo thought to himself, straining to keep his eyes open as he looked up at the clouded sky. It appeared to be ready to rain. He made what sounded like a half gurgle, half laugh at the realization that he was either going to drown from his own blood or from the rain. Like a goddamn turkey, even. How pathetic was that? Kengo was only glad that Akira wasn't here to see this. How would the better boy even think when he saw him like this? Probably shrug it off, pass him by as if he were uninteresting road kill and keep on going. After all, what was Kengo to Akira? Just a nuisance.

Akira didn't need him, he said so him self. The other's boy's words rang through Kengo's head and he found that they hurt worse than the pain he was in now. Figures. Akira's opinion of him was all that mattered to the blonde. It was sickening to think about. All the years they knew each other, Kengo spent his entire time by Akira's side like a loyal lapdog. Taking anything the other boy threw at him with a smile and always coming back.

Call it obsession, call it stupidity. Usually Kengo was on the scale of the latter, since everyone claimed him to be the idiot of idiots. Maybe they were right. Hell, they were! Kengo was so stupid to have thought that if he took down a gang by himself, well, perhaps Akira would notice him. See him more as just a lap dog, or an inconvenience.

'_Why should I even care now, anyway? He'll never see me...not ever...especially not now.' _Kengo began to feel wetness on his cheeks. at first he thought it was the rain that had finally started, but he soon found that they were tears, which apparently had been streaming down his face for quite some time.

He cursed himself, shutting his eyes tightly as he went into a terrible coughing fit that shook his body and caused it to tense from the searing pain rocketing through his body. Kengo hated being so weak, so useless...just as Akira had always seen him. Even when Akira had given him the okay to join him to help fight the Kokuchi, he could see Akira really didn't want to. He had protested from the start ever since Kengo insisted that he would be a huge help. That it would be fun...because they would be hanging out more often together...which what he wanted so badly.

Kengo had known for a while that their friendship was losing stability, not that it was very stable to begin with. It was a matter of master and dog. And the master was losing interest in the dog. The loyal, admiring dog.

Yet, Kengo wouldn't give up and continued to be persistent, in which Akira gave in and gave him the special gloves he took from Shirogane. He was so grateful, barely able to believe that he could actually help Akira, be someone he could count upon. But...Akira was right all along. It was a horrible idea to count on him. He failed. Kengo failed to prove himself to Akira and his own self. The fight barely lasted five minutes. Sure, he got a few hits in for a while, but there were more in the gang than he had seen before.

'Idiot,' Kengo snapped at himself, going through another coughing fit and gasping when he couldn't suck in any more air. He was in a panic now. Was this it? Was he really going to die like this? Kengo felt his consciousness slowly fading, the darkness creeping over his already muddled mind until he distantly heard a voice

"What the--Kengo?" He couldn't open his eyes. He had already used up all his strength when he tried to push himself towards the corner of the ally earlier, which failed miserably at. The blonde felt himself being inspected before he was turned over to his stomach. at that moment, his eyes shot open from the pain. Kengo expelled all the blood that had collected itself in his throat when the boy quickly and graciously sucked in fresh air. He gasped, caching his breath after a minute of gaining his full awareness.

"Jesus, what the hell did you do?" came the same voice from before. It was all too familiar to the boy.

"A..Aki..." Kengo couldn't bring himself to complete the name.

"It appears that he took quite a beating." Another familiar voice. One he resented. One he was jealous of.

"I know that, Shirogane," Akira's voice snapped irritably. Kengo smiled thinly at that. Always the hothead. Typical Akira.

"Yes, but you asked and he can't possible be able to answer--"

"Shut up!" Akira snapped again, turning the other boy over to his side. Kengo hadn't seen Akira's face until now when the angry, blue orbs stared down at him disapprovingly. Kengo swallowed, feeling incredibly guilty. Had he upset him for doing this? He hadn't expected this. "You really are so damn stupid."

Kengo winced at his words, brown eyes wavering from the other's face shamefully. "Sorry...I just thought," he stopped. He thought what? Kengo furrowed his brows. What was it again that he was doing anyway. Akira shook his head and hoisted him up, surprised when he heard the blonde cry out from the quick movement.

The brunette was never one to notice another's pain very well. He was selfish after all and it didn't concern him. Yet, apparently Kengo was an exception this time as he stopped to stare at the blonde for a moment, not moving an inch. "Are you seriously in that much pain or are you just being dramatic?" he half droned, narrowing his eyes.

"Uh-um..." Kengo tried to form legible words, but nothing could really come out. He finally replied with a shrug, which only let to him whimpering again. Akira rolled his eyes, figuring walking him to safety wasn't going to work. He looked towards the older, silver haired man with the hat and they both shared a nod. "Hey...what-?" the blonde began to ask before Akira's hair turned a dark shade of black and his blue orbs turned a deep red.

Akira had become a Shadow a while back, becoming one when the mysterious Shirogane had met up with him. No one was supposed to be able to see Shadows, but once you recognized their existence, there was no going back. Thanks to Kengo's sister being possessed, he was then aware of Shirogane's existence and soon able to see Akira's Shadow form.

Not that Kengo would admit it, but he actually thought Akira looked a lot better with black hair. It fit him quite well. Made him handsome, dark...and his eyes--Kengo stopped himself, mentally giving himself a slap in the face. Of course, when Akira had picked him up and had started flying above the city, it didn't help the heat rising to his ears. He could only assume his face was just as beat red.

Luckily for Kengo Akira was oblivious to his friend's musings on his appearance. He seemed dead set on the destination. Kengo blinked and looked down bellow him, feeling a knot grow in his stomach. When he saw that Akira had passed his house, however, he finally found his voice. "Hey, you missed my house!"

"Like hell I'm taking you to your sister when you're like this," Akira commented matter-of-factly. "She's probably not even home to even help you."

"Then," Kengo furrowed his brows in confusion, "where are we going?"

"My house, dumbass," Akira said as if it was the most casual thing in the world.

"Wha-what?" Kengo gawked, his russet eyes widened at the thought. "But you never let me stay there," he whined, confused. What was Akira planning? He didn't like this at all and he began to squirm.

"Shut up and stop writhing," Akira growled, looking down at the wiggling blonde with annoyance. "Or I'll drop you right now." Kengo made another complaining noise before he stopped. He really didn't want to be a huge, bloody splat on the pavement. Or on someone's lawn. Or on top of some poor, old grandma. "Better," Akira commented. "Besides, who says anything about you staying at my house anyway? I'm keeping you there until I find out what the hell you were doing dying in the middle of some abandoned ally and not having called for me at all."

Kengo frowned and glared up at Akira. Yeah, liek he was going to call Akira to rescue him like some damsel in distress. Ha, not likely. Though, it did kind of sound appealing, Akira being a knight in shining armor or Prince Charming-GAH STOP! Kengo screamed in his mind, shaking his head frantically.

"Dude, you are acting really weird," Akira noted, finally landing on the front door of his house, Shirogane always ahead of him. Soon Akira was a brunette again as Shirogane allowed himself to be his shadow again so humans could see Akira without having to see a levitating Kengo. That would raise some eyebrows. So would having Akira carrying him in the first place, actually, now that the blonde thought about it.

"I am not," Kengo finally retorted. "I wouldn't have called you even if I wanted to!" He bit his lip, finally realizing what he just said. Akira's expression was hard to read, but he knew he wasn't happy. Kengo readied himself to be tossed aside, scoffed at, and left there in front of the other boy's house. He shut his eyes tightly, preparing himself for the impact to the hard ground. When nothing happened, he opened his eyes and blinked in confusion.

Akira did look angry now, yes, but he hadn't thrown Kengo or punched him sky high into oblivion. He almost looked, dare he say, hurt. He appeared to ant to say something important, but Akira quickly changed the subject. "Think you can walk now? My arms are cramping up. You really need to lay off the rice patties, got it?"

Kengo gave him another glare, but knew the insult was anything but serious. He sighed. "I...guess. I haven't really tried." Akira took this as an opportunity to drop him, which he did, and rather gracefully waltz to his door.

"Ow! Hey," Kengo whined, hitting the ground rather hard on his ass. "I should have seen that coming," he mumbled. Shirogane chuckled softly and came over to the blonde and helped lift him to his feet.

"Need help?"

"No!" Kengo tore his arm away from the strange man. He didn't know why his sister fawned over him. He was really creepy, with all his smiles and his twisted change of personality at the oddest of times. "I'm fine," he added quietly, stumbling on himself as he tried to make it to Akira's door.

"Moron," Akira sighed under his breath as he grabbed Kengo by the arm and kept him from falling up the steps. If anyone could accomplish that, it was Kengo. He pulled away from Akira in aggravation, but the other boy just grabbed him by the arm again and dragged him inside.

'_Wait,' _Kengo thought to himself, bewildered. _'Why aren't I in as much pain as before?'_

As if Akira knew what the other was thinking, he answered, "While we were flying I started transferring healing energy into you. Master is still a lot better at it than me or Shirogane, but hey, it was worth a try. But damn, did it wear me out," he grumbled, rubbing his shoulder and stretching it to relax his muscles. Before Kengo could say anything, Akira shoved him not-so-gently onto the couch and crossed his arms while he studied the blonde's appearance. Busted lip, half swollen eye, bruises, and cuts all over his face--just what had the boy gotten himself into this time? It was really frustrating for Akira to find this out about Kengo. It wasn't like him to go off alone and get in this sort of trouble. Was he jumped? Well, he was going to find out.

"Would anyone like to have some tea?" asked Shirogane politely as he walked on towards the kitchen. Akira glowered after him.

"No one said you could make yourself at home," he growled. Shirogane shrugged Akira off with a smile and disappeared behind the kitchen door for the moment. His absence wouldn't last very long. Both boys knew that thing for sure about the strange silver haired man.

"So," Akira started, his voice monotone, hiding his worry behind a mask of boredom. "Tell me what happened or I'll just throw you out the door."

"I'll let myself out, then," Kengo retorted, pushing himself back onto his feet. Akira stopped him, his hand pressed against his chest and shoving back on top of the couch.

"Tell me what happened, Kengo!" Akira snapped, raising his voice. Kengo flinched, not expecting this at all from Akira. It was too surreal. Why would this irk the brunette so much?

"Why the hell do you care? Is it because you didn't get to do it yourself?" Kengo snapped right back, again shocking himself for his boldness and shrinking back into the couch. It was really squishy, he mused, and soft. Man, the things he tried to think about to get his mind off of the other boy.

Kengo was even more surprised when Akira grabbed him by the front of his shirt, his face inches from his. The blonde's eyes widened, shuddering when he felt Akira's hot breath pass his cheek. "I'm not going to ask you again," Akira seethed, eyes boring into Kengo's, as if searching through his orbs to find the answer hidden in them.

"I just got in a fight with some freaks, that's all!" Kengo tried to push him away, but stopped when he felt pain jolt through him and he bit on his lip so hard that it started bleeding all over again, adding to his already busted lip.

"That's all? Kengo-" Akira gritted his teeth when he saw how much pain his friend was in. Wait, friend? When did he even consider this half-witted, pathetic excuse for a human a friend of his? He was only for amusement purposes anyway, right? To smack around, taunt, pick on and always have the idiot coming back to him as if nothing happened. Sometimes it really sickened him to see how Kengo looked at him. Like he was some amazing, god-like person. It got really annoying. Not to mention creepy. But today, or night, rather, he didn't really focus on those things. He was actually aware that he was worried for the idiot. Just as he was worried when Kengo wanted to join them on this dangerous mission with the shadow world.

"Come on," Akira lifted Kengo up from the armpits and off of the couch, instantly grabbing him by the elbow and dragging him upstairs towards his room.

"I made the tea," Shirogane said in a slight sing-song voice as he came back out of the kitchen, only to find the two boys hurrying upstairs. His icy eyes narrowed slightly and he frowned. He followed after, leaving the tea untouched by the table.

"What are you doing?" Akira said with a glare after seeing Shirogane follow them into his bedroom. He was just about to shut the door, but the man's white-gloved hand stopped it short.

"I can only be so far away from you, Akira, before you turn back to your Shadow self, remember?" Shorgane stated, smiling cutely at the doorway. Akira gave a roll of his eyes and shut the door on him. "Good, then you can just sit right there and be a good doppelganger," he retorted.

"Aww, Akiiraaa!" Shirogane whined.

"Shut up!" Akira said with an aggravated huff, wishing he had the ability to go deaf right now. Kengo shifted uncomfortably on his feet, a little off balance until Akira gripped his shoulders firmly and glared daggers at him. "You _will_ tell me everything."

Kengo gulped, perspiration dampening his forehead. He was so in for it now. The look on Akira's face said everything. How was Kengo going to tell him the truth without Akira killing him for it later?

Damn, if only he had drowned to death like a turkey.

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That's it for now! I'll be working on chapter two soon. I'm thinking it's only going to be a two chapter story, unless I get an actual plot later on. Who knows. It was going to be a one-shot, but I realized it's long for a one-shot! Heh.

REVIEWS ARE MUCH APPRICIATED. I know hardly anyone knows about Monochrome Factor since it's very new, not to mention the Akira/Kengo shipping is the rarest thing out there, not to mention the most OBVIOUS pairing. I only found one pairing fic of them here, which makes me sad. It was a good one-shot though! Kudos to them that wrote it!


	2. Chapter 2

**Greetings! **I have to say, thanks so much to the three people that reviewed! I updated just for you guys! I really hope this chapter makes you all happy! Beware of the just-might-be-cliff hanger.

I hope this isn't too OOC, I'm thinking I got all their personalities right, eh? Anyway...read! And Review! Or I'll send Kengo's possessed sister after you!

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It appeared that Akira wasn't going to get any straight answers at this point. All Kengo would do was avert any real information and give him minor details. He knew the blonde was hiding something and it greatly irked him. Akira had to fight the urge to pummel him into the ground. He began to wonder why he didn't do just that. It always worked before. Then again, those times Kengo didn't look like shit, to be put very lightly.

Even though Akira had tried the healing process why they were flying, he knew it hadn't helped much. Hell, even Shirogane couldn't heal wounds perfectly. That's why they trusted it all towards Master over at his bar.

Akira finally gave up for the time being, but still cornering Kengo so he couldn't get away. Not that the blonde had much strength to get very far, anyway. "Will you stop freaking out? God, you're such a girl," Akira commented when he brushed Kengo's bangs back to get a look at a nasty scrape that had collected lots of dried blood.

Kengo flinched and wished the wall would let him retreat further back. "Ow! Stop it," he hissed through his teeth. It really stung. Akira only rolled his eyes and backed off.

"Fine, whatever. If your brain leaks out it won't be my fault."

"Wha-what?!" Kengo's eyes widened. Could that really happen? He shook his head and glared back at Akira. "Haha, very funny."

"Who says I'm joking?" Akira said flatly, his expression giving away nothing. "Head injuries are extremely dangerous and they bleed a lot. You should know this by now." With all the times he had hit him...Akira frowned at the memories. They were never this bad, were they?

Kengo touched the wound on his head, wincing when he barely touched it. He supposed Akira had a point. "Well, it healed over anyway," he mumbled, glad that the other wasn't crowding him now. Of course, that didn't last long. Akira stood in front of him again and caught Kengo's chin so he couldn't turn his face.

"No it hasn't. It's going to get infected," he stated, letting go and walking towards the door. "I'm going to get some stuff for it." As he opened the door, he turned around, eyes narrowed. "Don't try to leave," he warned.

Kengo laughed uneasily. "Leave? Me?...eheh...never..." He watched Akira go and let out an exasperated sigh, sinking down to the floor, back propped against the wall. "Damn it...he's not going to drop it. Why the hell is he so miffed about this to begin with? Ahg!" Kengo tugged at his hair in frustration. "It's so confusing...!"

Akira glared at Shirogane, who apparently stayed by the door the entire time. He walked on past him towards the hallway. Shirogane followed after with a smile. "I was beginning to wonder if you really hated your friend or not."

"What are you talking about?" Akira asked, rummaging in the medicine cabinet after he opened up behind the mirror. Shirogane chuckled and tipped his hat.

"Well, with the few instances I've seen you with him, it looked as if you wanted to get rid of him for a long time."

Akira shrugged, finally finding what he wanted. Alcohol, a few cotton balls, and quite a few band-aids, along with a few other things. Something told him, by the time he was through with checking Kengo, he was going to need them all. "I did want to get rid of him," Akira replied, giving Shirogane a hard look with his eyes. "Why else did I try to get him out of this mess? Truth is, I can't get rid of him."

"But you could have left him there." the silver haired man smiled again. "You didn't, either. There must be a reason."

"Yeah, he's an idiot and I wasn't going to leave him there to die. What, you think I'm that heartless?" Akira snapped.

"No, not at all," Shirogane cooed, wrapping his arms around the rigid Akira. "I think you have too much of one...but you can't seem to open up all the way-"

"Let go of me," Akira seethed, trying to break away from the older man's arms. Shirogane only chuckled softly and let go.

"Truth is, Akira...you care about him more than you think. You don't want to lose him at all. To lose him would mean you lose a part of yourself." Shirgane's face was only mere inches from Akira's, lips nearly gracing his nose. Akira kept a defiant glare but shuddered at the closeness. He really wished Restraining Orders could work on "ghosts".

"Shut up," Akira growled for the umpteenth time before shoving Shirogane out of the way and stomping back to his room. "And stop following me!"

"Akira, If I do-" The door was once again slammed on his face and the man sighed. "He has yet to open his eyes to see what's really there in front of him," he muttered.

"Uh, Akira?" Kengo asked sheepishly, seeing as his friend looked utterly fowl at the moment. He didn't like the shadowy look on his face as he came closer with whatever was in his hands.

"Stay still, this will only hurt worse if you piss me off," Akira said, placing most of the first aid junk on the bed. He pulled Kengo onto the bed before the blonde could protest and held him down with one hand on his chest gentley. "Stay."

"But, Akira-" Kengo began to argue, but Akira shut him up with another one of his looks. Kengo quickly swallowed his words and wisely shut up for once. He bit his lip to stop himself from making any noise to upset the other when Akira dabbed his head wound with the alcohol soaked cotton ball.

"Stop flinching," Akira said in aggravation once Kengo jerked his head back when the cotton ball dripped with the burning substance onto his cut.

"Sorry," Kengo mumbled.

Akira frowned when it started bleeding a bit. Finding the gauze he had taken with him, he neglected the band-aids, wrapping the gauze around Kengo's head instead. "Hey, did you break anything?" he asked. He had noticed the blonde's hesitant breathing lately and was starting to worry, if only a little. "Like, your ribs? They hit you hard there?"

"Um," Kengo blinked, not realizing that Akira was asking him something instead of snapping at him to stop whatever he was doing. "What?"

Akira let out a huff and shook his head. "Take off your shirt." Kengo gawked at him, mouth hanging wide open as if he was some kind of guppy fish.

"What-why?" Kengo demanded, holding onto his shirt tightly with his hands. "I don't want to," he whined.

"I want to see what all they did to you, Kengo," Akira said with a glare. "If you don't cooperate I'll just take you to your sister right now and tell her you got in some retarded street gang fight. She'll love that. Or if that doesn't bother you enough, I'll rip the damn thing off."

Kengo scooted backwards on the bed to get away from Akira, his back eventually hitting the wall. He didn't have much room. Akira had a rather small bed after all. Akira loomed over him, eyes gleaming. "Well?" he asked ominously.

"Okay, okay! Just back off already!" Kengo pushed him away and made a face that was a mixture of a pout and a glare. One of the faces Kengo was notoriously good at. He had plenty of practice in his day. Akira rolled his eyes and stood back. He wasn't too far away from Kengo, though. He wasn't going to let the blonde chicken out. He needed to see the extent of the boy's injuries.

Akira had already spotted the rips and tears in Kengo's clothing not too long ago and knew what had made them. The smell of blood wasn't strong, but that didn't mean he hadn't bled at all or that the wounds weren't dangerous. "Hurry up, Kengo," Akira ordered, impatient.

Kengo sighed heavily and stared down at his legs, feeling the heat build up in his cheeks again. It wasn't that either male hadn't seen each other without clothes on, considering the boy's shower at school, but with Kengo's sudden unusual thoughts and feelings about his friend did not make this easy.

Finally, with a deep breath, the blonde quickly took off the dirty, soiled shirt he had on. He was thoroughly surprised by his own injuries as Akira was. He had been completely unaware of the bruises and scrapes that adorned his arms and chest and he blinked dazedly when he raised his arm to look at the colorful collection of purple and black. "Huh..." Kengo mused.

"Seriously, Kengo," Akira seethed angrily, glaring at his friend's battered chest. "How more stupid can you get? Did you even comprehend the extent of your injuries at all?" he demanded.

"Well, I-uh..." Kengo shrank back, again not used to Akira getting so worked up about this. "I knew I hurt a lot..."

"Gah!" Akira looked up at the ceiling and shut his eyes, gripping his brown hair tightly with his hands in frustration. "Come on, Kengo! What the hell did you get yourself into? Look at yourself! What were you thinking! no, never mind, you weren't thinking at all. You never do," he fumed.

Kengo stared down at his hands now, watching them ball into fists at everything Akira was shouting. "I know what I was doing..." he said quietly, voice shaky. He could barely recognize his own voice and was afraid to keep on talking. "I know it might not have been smart...but I had to do it..."

Akira stared at him, confused. "Had to do it? Kengo, you told me you accidentally ran into this gang-" he frowned, gritting his teeth. "I knew you were lying!" He opened his mouth to shout more accusations of Kengo's intelligence before the blonde lifted his head and gave Akira a look that for the first time shut the other male up.

Kengo was breathing heavily, finding it a bit harder to breath now that he was so flustered and upset. "You wouldn't understand! Ever since we've known each other all I've ever been was someone on the side lines or someone you always had to get out of trouble. For once I wanted to...to prove to myself...that I wasn't so useless..." Kengo stared back at his balled up fists that were now shaking. His gloves started turning a darker shade when wet drops found themselves on the fabric.

Akira was silent for a while until he spotted water dripping from Kengo's lowered head. "Kengo, I let you join us didn't you? You proved to me then that you could help-"

"That's not the same thing!" Kengo raised his voice again, lifting his head to glare at the other boy, not caring anymore about the tears clouding his vision. "Even then I still notice how you wish I wasn't there!"

Akira, not one for sympathy, wasn't sure what to think or say. He put his hands in his pockets and just listened to Kengo ramble on about how useless he was, or how Akira never trusted him or wanted him around. Finally, after he figured Kengo was now just talking in circles and going completely out of context, he walked up to him and covered the blonde's mouth with his hand. "Enough already."

Kengo blinked several times, surprised that he wasn't being hit on the head with a baseball bat or being flung out the window. After all, hadn't he taken all of this too far? Wasn't Akira fed up with him?

After Akira assumed Kengo had calmed down and wasn't going to rant and cry over stupid things anymore, he removed his hand. "So," he said flatly, positioning himself on the bed next to Kengo. "This whole reason why you messed with these guys...was to see if you weren't useless in a real fight or something? Isn't fighting Kokuchi bad enough?"

"No, that's not it...I mean," Kengo chewed his lip and looked away from the brunette. "It sort of is, but not completely."

Akira placed his hand on top of Kengo's head to turn it around to face him again. "You can't even explain yourself correctly, you know that? Don't hurt yourself even more."

Kengo opened his mouth to retort, but shut it again. He didn't want to tell Akira that it was because of him that he wanted to prove to. He knew he had already failed. While he was fighting with himself not to fully explain to Akira, he had a delayed reaction of Akira's fingers going up and down his arm.

"Wha-whaaa-what are you doing?!" Kengo practically flailed and nearly punched Akira in the face. Since Akira had learned quick reflexes for a while, he caught his arm just before it smacked him in the chin.

"Calm down, Kengo, I'm not molesting you or anything," he muttered with a roll of his eyes. He had only been feeling around the bruises until he found a cut just under Kengo's arm. It had barely scabbed over. "How long were you actually laying out there?"

Kengo could feel the back of his hair stand on end at the too close touches. The burning in his ears only intensified. "I don't know," he forced out, hoping his quiet, hesitant voice didn't give anything away.

Akira only raised an eyebrow and tugged on his arm gently to pull him closer so he could clean the cut. "Figures," he muttered, ignoring Kengo's winces and pained noises. "Quit acting like such a baby. It can't hurt that bad and nothing is broken." Akira poked the boy's chest for reference.

When Kengo gasped and shied away, Akira began to think otherwise. Wasn't it just the bruises? Or did they kick hard enough to crack the blonde's ribs? Akira's eyes narrowed and he left the boy's arm be while he felt around his chest.

"Ah-Akira, stop!" Kengo yelped, trying to futilely push him away. It really hurt and on top of that, the boy he was so infatuated with was feeling his bare chest. He knew at once he wasn't able to hide his reddened face or expect Akira to be oblivious this time.

Kengo was more than right.

Akira blinked when he stopped, but still kept his hands in place, careful not to press too hard. He studied the blonde's face curiously, as if turning several shades of red was a phenomenon. A that instant, it clicked in his head. Kengo had gotten himself in danger for him. Because Kengo had set in his challenged mind that he constantly had to prove himself to Akira. Had to, because all he wanted was Akira's full attention.

The brunette's lips twitched into a smirk, his hand coming to the blonde's cheek and wiping a stray tear with a single finger, Kengo unable to discern what was happening before his lips met the other in a kiss.

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AHHH! Chapter two is done! Is this it? Will I continue?! Most likely. I am SURE Chapter three will be the last...IF I write it. But isn't this a good end...? or too much a of a cliff hanger? Uhg. you, the people, choose...in a review! It's all up to you!!


	3. Chapter 3

After what felt like hours, which were really seconds, Kengo felt the pressure on his lips disappear. It was hard for him to fathom what exactly just happened and although he was staring right at Akira, he didn't believe his own eyes. Akira noticed Kengo's stare and silence, but he didn't make any move to break it.

The blonde blinked a few times, as if finally getting it. Then he did something Akira would have never thought. Kengo's fist made contact with Akira's cheek and before the Shin could gain his bearings, he hit the floor. "What the hell was that?!" Kengo looked in near hysterics. Tears were running freely down his face again and he didn't bother wiping them away.

Akira held his reddened cheek in confusion, knowing it was going to bruise later. "Kengo-"  
"Is this another one of your sick games? Huh?!" Kengo began to shake, gripping the sheets tightly as his fingers clenched the fabric. "Stop...messing with my head..."

Akira got up to his feet and slowly walked back over towards his friend, cupping Kengo's face gently in his hands. The blonde didn't try to free himself. Instead he just glared defiantly, though he knew it was only half-hearted that he tried to resist. This was what he wanted, but he couldn't help but feel that Akira was just toying with his emotions. Akira wasn't that cold hearted, Kengo told himself.

The blonde closed his tightly when Akira's face moved in closer. "Kengo..." he said softly, smiling sadly as he wiped more of the tears away with his fingers without letting go of the other's face. Kengo wasn't used to that voice, at least, not the soft spoken, caring voice he figured he would never hear in his life. It caused him to open his eyes in disbelief, only to see the same shocking expression on Akira's face. "I'm not playing with you, I swear."

Akira's demeanor did not show any signs of betrayal. At least, none that Kengo could see. It was hard to tell with his still blurry vision. "Shirogane...pointed out something to me while I was getting the first aid." Akira let go of Kengo's face and slowly moved his hands to the other's shoulders and rested them there firmly. Kengo listened, still confused and shaken up. Akira sensed his friend's distress and sighed. "Please calm down, Kengo. I don't like seeing you like this."

Kengo swallowed and tried to keep himself calm, which hadn't been working very smoothly as of lately. "W-what did he point out...?" he forced, upset about the way his own voice sounded. It was shaky, uneven, practically breaking through syllables like a choked up school girl. He hated it.

"That you are important to me," Akira said, looking the other straight in the eye before brushing back a lock of blonde hair from Kengo's face, the back of his hand presses softly against his forehead to rest for a moment. "That I'm overly possessive over you." He smiled weakly, having pointed that out himself rather than Shirogane. Oh well, Kengo didn't need to know all the details. "And that I need you." Akira pulled back, awaiting Kengo's response.

Kengo had stiffened at first to the other's touch, but hadn't realized how much he leaned into it before Akira pulled away and he was stuck out of balance. He straightened up quickly, hoping Akira hadn't noticed that. If this was a trick, he didn't want to give Akira the satisfaction that he was falling for it. Kengo let out what he hoped was an annoyed sigh, but only came out as a strange combination of whine and a plea. Nothing at all close to what he was hoping for.

"If what you say is true," Kengo started, hating the sound of his voice. It was just too fragile. "Then why all the abuse before hand?"

Akira was taken aback once again, his eyes showing his own self-loathing at how he had been treating Kengo all these years. "I'm sorry. I guess you could say I was in denial. I can understand now if you hate me. I guess I reached my limit with you, huh?" he said quietly, his eyes lowering to look at Kengo's still bruised and battered form. He should have waited after he was better. Kengo still needed treatment. Akira absentmindedly reached for a soothing ointment cream to help the pain and heal the wounds, but didn't open it yet.

Kengo watched him and chewed his bottom lip. It couldn't be some twisted game now. Akira was serious. It practically frightened him. Was this the kind of moment he had been waiting for since he met the other boy? He shivered, the room steadily getting cooler because of how he was shirtless and that the night was steadily getting colder. "I don't...hate you," Kengo said with a forced smile. "I told you...I'm sticking with you 'til the end, Bud."

Akira sensed a little more of the old Kengo coming back and he forced his own smile back at him. "Hey, I didn't finish cleaning you up," he added, holding out the bottle. Kengo blinked and stared at it.

"What'll it do?" he asked, hoping the sound of chattering teeth wasn't as loud as it was to him at the moment. Akira chuckled lightly and opened up the bottle, squeezing out enough to spread along Kengo's back for the moment. "Just hold still. It'll be over soon," he said while he rubbed his hands together to make a spread before gently rubbing it on his back, positioning himself behind Kengo before the other male could interject.

"H-hey!" Kengo yelped, arching back. He could feel his cheeks heat up as Akira's's hands worked their way up and down his back. The sensation was almost too much and a quiet moan escaped his lips, accompanied by a wince once Akira found one of the terrible sore parts. "A-Akira..." he complained. "Why can't I just do this myself...?"

"Because," Akira said simply, leaning himself forward and resting his chin against Kengo's less wounded shoulder. He blew against the blonde's pierced ear and felt rather smug when Kengo surprised another delicious noise. "Besides, you won't be able to reach most of these areas on your own," Akira added before lowering his hands down Kengo's back smoothly, not too far from the blonde's hip bones.

"S-stop it!" Kengo gasped, trying to get away, not wanting to let Akira see his face and notice how flustered he was. Akira chuckled again and wrapped his arms around the boy to stop him from getting away.

"You really need to sit still. I'm never going to get this done, you know. Then again, I don't really mind..." he muttered, trailing his fingers delicately down Kengo's chest from behind, tracing all the way down to his pelvis.

"A...ki..ra," Kengo pleaded, sweat trickling down his forehead as he strained to keep himself from giving far too much away. It wasn't working. Every time he tried to open his mouth to protest, he could only find himself calling the other's name or making noises he never thought he could make.

Akira had noticed that he had ran out of the ointment on his hands, but decided not to care as he continued roaming Kengo's baby soft body with his fingers. He enjoyed hearing the other's voice crying his name when it wasn't for some annoying reason or another. The noises Kengo made only made things even more difficult to control himself. Just when did Kengo become so irresistible?

Akira's tongue decided to join in on the exploration, teasing the blonde's silver hoop that was so conveniently attached to arm, fleshy ear. Kengo suppress a shudder of pleasure at the tugging at his ear, the feel of arm Akira taking over his entire being.

The Shin brought one free hand up to lift Kengo's chin, tracing the boy's jaw line with a finger before locking lips once again with the blonde. Kengo couldn't fight it any longer and gave in completely to the stronger, more dominant male. It felt so good to just give up for once, to let Akira take over. He joined in with the kiss, barely breaking away long enough to catch his already shortened breath.

Kengo opened his eyes, only to gaze into two very bright, very red orbs. He gasped, but then burst out laughing. Akira raised an eyebrow and stared at Kengo almost worriedly. Had he finally snapped, or what? "Shiro...gane's...gone..." the blonde forced out between fits of laughter.

"What are you-" Akira stopped when he noticed that his normal school outfit had been replaced with his Shin attire. He checked his hair just incase. Yup. Black as night. Where the hell had Shirogane gone? "Oh," Akira looked worried again. Was this not what Shirogane had planned? Was he upset about this? Or did he just figure he needed to find something to preoccupy himself with while the two boys made out on Akira's bed?

Akira let out a sigh and ruffled Kengo's hair before wrapping him in his arms again. "Well, worse case scenario is that if someone walks in, they'll only see you." The raven-haired boy formed a devilish grin. Kengo instantly stopped laughing.

"You locked the door, right?" he asked uneasily. Akira rolled his eyes and lowered himself, along with Kengo, across the bed. His head rested on the pillow while Kengo's was now stuck on his chest.

The blonde blushed again, folding his hands against the others chest instinctively while he curled up. It was so cold now in the room, but Akira felt so warm. He almost found himself drifting to sleep, especially with one of Akira's hands running his fingers through his hair, but Akira's words kept him up.

"I guess you're staying here tonight," the Shin mused before breathing in the scent of Kengo's hair. He must have freshly shampooed it earlier this morning. It smelled of vanilla. Very pleasant. Very tasty. Akira smiled to himself. "Hey, you know why you dyed your hair blonde?" he asked. It had been a long time since he saw Kengo in his natural black hair color.

"What?" Kengo mumbled, lulling off to sleep even then at the soft touches. "Oh...uh...you told me to," he answered sleepily. "You said it fit my personality more..." He stirred unhappily when Akira's still body began to shake with laughter.

"God, seriously? That's why?" Akira burst into hysterics. Kengo glowered up at his friend and pouted.

"Yeah, I'm serious. Then the next day you called me an even bigger idiot."

Akira stifle his laughter and gave the pouting Kengo a light peck on the forehead which much to his delight, changed Kengo's expression to an embarrassed rosy pink. "I'm sorry, but I did forget to tell you that it suits you well in appearance more than just personality wise," he said truthfully, brushing his fingers through Kengo's hair once again. "Blonde is a beautiful color for you."

Kengo's words were muffled on purpose against Akira's chest while Akira continued to embarrass him intentionally or not. Akira only smiled and planted another kiss on the top of his head before pulling the covers over them both. Kengo wondered just how long this was going to last, but he held onto it, or Akira really, as much as he could.

"G'night," Kengo murmured, wishing he wasn't so tired and could stay up with Akira.

"Good night," Akira said quietly, watching protectively over Kengo before he himself couldn't keep his eyes shut. "...love ya, idiot..." In the morning, Akira was going to kill the bastards that hurt his Kengo.

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Gah! Finally...end of chapter 3! I know this isn't going to be the last chapter now. Uhg. Give me reviews and love and I'll do my best not to give up on this fic! FANART could be a great bribe too. HINH HINT I also have an interesting plot twist probably coming up in chapter 4. Not sure about it though. ANYWAY. Review!


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